Lewis Hamilton believes McLaren are just a step away from competing for grand prix wins this season.

Hamilton trailed home third in Sunday’s season-opening race in Bahrain behind a Ferrari one-two led by Fernando Alonso on his debut for the Maranello marque. Although the 25-year-old finished 25 seconds adrift of his former McLaren team-mate, Hamilton was encouraged by his second half of the race.

Lewis Hamilton

“The pace I had was quite good, so it’s good to know we were able to match it and do similar times to the guys at the front,” he said. “It shows we’re not as far away as we thought we may have been, so we’re not in a bad position. We just need to try to make a step closer to them which will enable us to compete for the win.”

Team-mate and reigning world champion Jenson Button was a distant seventh, 45 seconds adrift of Alonso.

The 30-year-old, who finished narrowly behind Mercedes duo Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher , said: “In the first stint I didn’t know what was going to happen to the tyres so I took it easy.

“I was a bit sad we pitted when we did because I thought I looked after the tyres a bit too much. In the final five laps of that first stint I was able to push and catch (Mark) Webber, who had damaged his tyres, and Michael.

“Michael pitted a lap before me and he was able to pull away, but I jumped Webber which was great. They were really good pit stops by the guys as Lewis and I both managed to jump someone.

“I then started pushing with 20 laps to go and I caught up with Michael, but I couldn’t do anything. I didn’t have the pace in the middle section to challenge in the final section, which was disappointing.

“So I’m okay with the result, although it wasn’t what I was hoping for. I expected to be a bit further up.

“But it’s impossible to overtake here. It’s so difficult which is very frustrating, but the sport is what it is.”